I was reminded of this image today when I was told I would have a radioactive substance in my body!
I went for my PET scan this morning. After a bit of confusion when I first arrived (they thought I was a staff member they were waiting for ?) I was taken into the portable unit at BRI. Sort of like a glorified portacabin looking kinda spaceship like inside.
I was given a glucose injection in my arm. The glucose is tagged with a small amount of radioactive element which is known as FDG. This radioactive glucose is taken up by the cancer cells and then the cancer cells can be identified. It stays in the body for 2 hours. But I was strongly advised to stay away from children and pregnant women for 8 hours!
I was really good with the needle today. Only a little bit of leg jigging and hand drumming on my knee. After that I had to rest for 45 mins - 1 hour. Which meant I could lie down and relax. I put my i-pod on and listened to lots of songs I havent heard in a long time. Was good.
After that I got ready for the scan. No metal is allowed, so jewellery off, belt off and bra off. But I could keep my own clothes on. My jeans just needed to be moved down so they didn't show on the scan. Another relaxing session. This is how I had decided to treat it in my head. I laid on the bed and put my head into the head brace - so to keep my still. When I was laid down the staff came and put a blanket on me and then wrapped me with a heavy ish plastic padded sort of thing. It helped to keep me still and made me a lot more comfortable actually. Like a cocoon!
After a few minutes the bed moved up and down through the scanner. Here's a photo of a scanner, similar to the one that I have been on today. Oh and this isn't me. lol!
The scan meant I had to bit still for 30 mins. Every so often the bed would move and it would take images. Time went by pretty quickly. I had nothing to listen to but the machine whirring, which isn't an awful noise. I just thought it was pretty clever. When I relaxed I snoozed through the rest. It was over before I knew it.
I was told there would be no side effects but up until about and hour ago I was feeling pretty dizzy. Having said that I was dizzy the other night, so it's hard to tell what's going on with my body at the moment really!
I will get my results at the end of the week together with my CT results.
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